X-Wing, what to fly next?

So, what to fly now in X-Wing?  My driving goal was to get my Dice and to have paid the “Iron Price” for them (yes, GoT reference)…  Got that and more.  I wound up winning the Prize Templates as well.  So, “neat” and I think I have officially lost my drive to “try hard” and prove that I am actually fairly good at the game.  But this does leave me in a rather odd position as I really have no idea what to fly from this point on…  The Dual Firesprays are fun and quite effective against a lot of things, but lack the ability to deal easily with Aces.  Can I?  Sure, if I play it well and (ideally) the opponent makes a few mistakes.  But against a top tier player on their game it is not a good matchup for me.  

Been playing around with a few other Scum builds and even a Super Dash list…  Pairing him with Wedge makes it interesting, but at the end of the day it is still just a 2 Ship list and not a particularly good one.  Sure, Dash and Wedge both can hit like trucks and Dash with the Focus and Bistan can get 2 Shots/Turn (albeit at different Targets) each of which is essentially a Proton Torpedo…  Still, a good opponent or just a Beef list will cause issues.

On the Scum side I tried a list with CPT Nym and Torini Kulda…  Amusing, but putting too many points in Nym means I have a 3 Ship list that is “meh” for the most part.  I suspect that Kulda is solid in a stripped down role (Snap Shot is nice here), and Nym for the Bomb chucking…

Nym Kulda and (200)

Torani Kulda — M12-L Kimogila Fighter	48
Snap Shot	8
Homing Missiles	5
R2 Astromech	3
Ship Total: 64
Half Points: 32 Threshold: 5
Captain Nym — Scurrg H-6 Bomber	48
Ion Cannon Turret	5
Veteran Turret Gunner	8
Proximity Mines	6
Proton Bombs	5
Havoc	4
Trajectory Simulator	10
R2 Astromech	3
Ship Total: 89
Half Points: 45 Threshold: 5
Crymorah Goon — BTL-A4 Y-Wing	31
Ion Cannon Turret	5
Veteran Turret Gunner	8
Seismic Charges	3
Ship Total: 47
Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4

WAY too much on the Skurrg there.  Amusing to fly, but…  Mostly I wanted to see if there was something to the Trajectory Simulator on that ship.  It is solid, but for a Critical Hit here or there?  Simply too expensive.  Mind, devastating against say, an unshielded Swarm build, but most other things simply ignore it while they kill him.

Still have my Jedi of course.  They are solid and fun.  I have a few ideas with Imperial things as well as we saw the TIE Advanced prototype and the Inquisitors start to really shine…  Imps can use the Force quite well, and it is really good it turns out…  Who knew?

X-Wing, on to something different...

Looking at playing something completely different going forward…  The Dual Firespray list is actually quite good, but…  I do tend to get bored and want to fly different things.  And as there are currently no “highly competitive” events in the local area, time to get back to flying “weird things” again.  As Dash’s YT-2400 was the first ship that my wonderful wife bought for me to get me started in the game, it has always had a special meaning for me…  Yes, it is massively expensive (points wise), but it hits like a bloody truck, and I can kit it out to fire twice every turn…  So:

Dash Wedge 1 (199)

Dash Rendar — YT-2400 Light Freighter	98
Expert Handling	6
Bistan	14
Perceptive Copilot	8
Outrider	14
Ship Total: 140
Half Points: 70 Threshold: 5
Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing	55
R2 Astromech	4
Servomotor S-Foils	0
Ship Total: 59
Half Points: 30 Threshold: 3

Nothing really special and as I have the one ship clocking in at 140 points that does severely limit what I can pair with him as the tournament rules specify 2-8 ships…  So, Wedge it is for me.  I tried Jake in his little A-Wing, but…  Was difficult to keep him close to Dash to give the bonus Focus Action, he just does not hit hard and one “oops” Agility roll and that is it for him…  With Wedge at least I have a solid X-Wing chassis and with his I6/Pilot Ability I have the ability to hit really hard as well, potentially I-killing something and at least keeping things like other “Aces” honest.  Wedge is not himself what I would consider an “Ace” as he lacks the ability to double reposition, but I6 is VERY powerful.  Besides I have the nice acrylic indicator as well as neat Alt Art cards for him that I’ve never used… 

I’ll probably keep the Jedi and maybe the Firesprays in the travel kit giving me 3 totally different lists to have options wherever I do go…

Legion tomorrow and playing my Rebels again…  “Kill Points” mission, so short and small games it seems…  I’ll see if they have the Clone Wars Starter I ordered in and if so, I’ll have clones and Obi-Wan to assemble and field…  Anyone looking for some older (mostly) 40K things as I should probably dump some of those to make room in the Basement of Doom™…

Tournament Results for the Titan event 20 October, no commentary

So, just a quick post for the event we had on Sunday (20 October) to have it in a “nice” format for folks to review if they’d like…

Tony:

(39) Chertek [Nantex-class Starfighter]
(10) Ensnare
Points: 49

(44) General Grievous [Belbullab-22 Starfighter]
(4) Impervium Plating
(6) Outmaneuver
(6) Soulless One
Points: 60

(30) DBS-404 [Hyena-class Droid Bomber]
(1) Landing Struts
(6) Afterburners
(6) Adv. Proton Torpedoes
Points: 43

(38) Petranaki Arena Ace [Nantex-class Starfighter]
(10) Ensnare
Points: 48

Total points: 200

Chris:

              Anakin, 7B

              Obi-Wan, 7B

              Plo Koon, 7B

              196

Paul:

Boba Krassis (200)

Boba Fett — Firespray-class Patrol Craft	85
Lone Wolf	5
Maul	12
Proximity Mines	6
Stealth Device	6
Slave I	2
Ship Total: 116
Half Points: 58 Threshold: 5
Krassis Trelix — Firespray-class Patrol Craft	68
Snap Shot	8
Ion Cannon	5
IG-88D	3
Ship Total: 84
Half Points: 42 Threshold: 5

Patrick:

[b]BTL-B Y-wing - Shadow Squadron Veteran - 48[/b]
Shadow Squadron Veteran - [i][/i] (35)
Dorsal Turret (3)
R4 Astromech (2)
Veteran Turret Gunner (8)

[b]BTL-B Y-wing - Shadow Squadron Veteran - 48[/b]
Shadow Squadron Veteran - [i][/i] (35)
Dorsal Turret (3)
R4 Astromech (2)
Veteran Turret Gunner (8)

[b]ARC-170 Starfighter - •“Sinker” - 54[/b]
•“Sinker” - [i]Wolfpack Veteran[/i] (54)

[b]BTL-B Y-wing - Shadow Squadron Veteran - 48[/b]
Shadow Squadron Veteran - [i][/i] (35)
Dorsal Turret (3)
R4 Astromech (2)
Veteran Turret Gunner (8)

[b]Total: 198/200
[/b]
[url="https://squadbuilder.fantasyflightgames.com/.../c07ed652..."]View in the X-Wing Squad Builder[/url]

Brody ran:

Obi-Wan Kenobi (47)
Sense (5)
R2 Astromech (6)
Delta-7B (19)

Ship total: 77 Half Points: 39 Threshold: 3

Plo Koon (44)
R2 Astromech (6)
Delta-7B (19)

Ship total: 69 Half Points: 35 Threshold: 3

Ric Olié (42)
R2 Astromech (4)

Ship total: 46 Half Points: 23 Threshold: 3

Total: 192

Round 1

1: Chris Wilson VS Chad Billman - Match Results: Chad Billman is the winner 119 to 132

2: Tony Hillen VS Brody Walworth - Match Results: Tony Hillen is the winner 200 to 109

3: Paul Chappell VS Patrick Shaw - Match Results: Paul Chappell is the winner 200 to 58

Round 2

1: Chad Billman VS Tony Hillen - Match Results: Chad Billman is the winner 200 to 145

2: Paul Chappell VS Brody Walworth - Match Results: Brody Walworth is the winner 35 to 84

3: Patrick Shaw VS Chris Wilson - Match Results: Patrick Shaw is the winner 200 to 72

Round 3

1: Chad Billman VS Brody Walworth - Match Results: Brody Walworth is the winner 0 to 200

2: Tony Hillen VS Patrick Shaw - Match Results: Patrick Shaw is the winner 123 to 200

3: Paul Chappell VS Chris Wilson - Match Results: Paul Chappell is the winner 200 to 142

Rankings

Rank	Name	Faction	Score	MoV	SoS
1	Brody Walworth		2	758	0.56
2	Paul Chappell	SCUM	2	751	0.44
3	Patrick Shaw		2	663	0.33
4	Chad Billman		2	468	0.33
5	Tony Hillen		1	559	0.67
6	Chris Wilson		0	401	0.67

So, a quick and fairly casual event to get things started back up, hopefully this is the beginning of an upward trend to get folks back out playing more regularly :-)

Springfield Finals and this weekend's X-Wing event...

So, played in the Hyperspace in Springfield…  Day one was in the previous post and so I made the cut for Day 2…  Got paired up against an excellent player out of the Chicago area, he did the video editing for Gold Squadron’s YouTube streams, so he recognized my name J…  He had Fenn, Fett and Sevor in his list.  Fairly even match, but I played more aggressively and was able to dodge the TIE’s Arc and drop a Proximity Mine on it to kill him the following turn before he could Activate.  His other ships took a bit longer, but IIRC the Snap Shot was brutal again and I found myself wishing I had the Ion Cannon in place of the Auto-Blaster here…  With Krassis and his ability to re-roll and fire out of both Arcs it is the better choice overall I think.  I wound up getting the win decisively, though I think he halved Krassis…  I think, nothing was posted and I was mostly just shocked to be there and making it to top 8…  So, won the Range Ruler and Dice for making Day 2 and Top 4 secured the Templates…  Neat, but I do prefer my Curled Paw ones honestly…  Green and with the Jedi symbol on it, so definitely mine…

Top 4 game was against Patrick out of Peoria (I think?  We play a LOT in these semi local events, fun opponent and great player)…  He had Vader and 3 Inquisitors with Foresight….  ROUGH list.  Sadly, Krassis died to a critical cascade with Hull Breach and direct hits piling in a LOT of damage.  I was counting on even if it went badly I would have had him one more round to finish off Vader and likely another Inquisitor…  Even with that, I ALMOST caught him, it came down to the Range 3 shot into Vader who was without mods to get him to half and me the win…  No J… The 3 Agility did not betray him or they betrayed me, depending on your perspective I suppose…

So, on to the event this weekend…  Extended so I will change my list a little:

Boba Krassis (200)

Boba Fett — Firespray-class Patrol Craft	85
Lone Wolf	5
Maul	12
Proximity Mines	6
Stealth Device	6
Slave I	2
Ship Total: 116
Half Points: 58 Threshold: 5
Krassis Trelix — Firespray-class Patrol Craft	68
Snap Shot	8
Ion Cannon	5
IG-88D	3
Ship Total: 84
Half Points: 42 Threshold: 5

No major changes, Ion in place of the Auto Blaster and IG-88D as the Crew there for the double Calculate action.  Snap is solid here…  Only minor debate is swapping the Stealth Device off of Boba to put Proximity Mines on Krassis perhaps…  Maybe, but when my luck holds with the Stealth, that ship is just immune to Damage for far longer than most people are prepared for…  Still, a fun list and nothing that should cause people to rage quit I hope… 

The Nantex OTOH….  Watching the Worlds streaming and seeing a LOT of them.  And a LOT of CIS swarms.  Both absolutely solid things and for the MOST part my Firesprays do well against them.  Just outright ignoring the Tractor silliness…

Springfield, Day 1

Spoiler, I made the cut...  No streams, but the event is up on the Tabletop.to... 

I ran:

Boba Krassis 2 (199)

Boba Fett — Firespray-class Patrol Craft	85
Lone Wolf	5
Jamming Beam	0
Maul	12
Proximity Mines	6
Stealth Device	6
Slave I	2
Ship Total: 116
Half Points: 58 Threshold: 5
Krassis Trelix — Firespray-class Patrol Craft	68
Snap Shot	8
Autoblasters	2
Qi’ra	2
Seismic Charges	3
Ship Total: 83
Half Points: 42 Threshold: 5

Turns out that the Swarms and Aces REALLY do not like seeing this list…  Also turns out that the Jedi are really a hard counter to this list J…  At least the way I played it…  Since I am almost certain to run into Jedi Sunday in the cut, I will have to adjust how I set up and play the game…  In any case, I finally won Regionals Dice J… 

Game one was against Republic Beef, Mark Tippet ran 3 ARCs and 2 Y-Wings...  It did not go well for the Republic.  Bombs and Snap Shot were rough and Boba was amazing...  Did lose shields on him, but cleared the Beef...  Eventually.  It was a great game to start the event against a great player to play against and us old folks have to stick together :-)...

Game 2 was against a Vader/Steele/TIE Reaper list...  Turns out, Aces HATE Snap Shot and Bombs...  Vader took 2 from Snap and then a Hit/Crit from a Proximity Mine...  Died the next turn...  Steele was the same thing, more or less...  4 Dice shot from the Auto Blaster finished him off...  The Reaper died early because it was the easier target...

3-4 were against Jedi lists...  :-)  And that was where I stumbled and JUST barely made the cut...

Last day before the Springfield HS...

Coming up on the crunch time it seems…  Thursday now and I leave for Springfield early Friday morning after I get in my run I hope…  Weather dependent I suppose.  That DID kill the potential to ride the ancient motorcycle over there…  I do have the correct cruiser type to hit the Interstate and just roll on as it is I-72 which while technically an “Interstate” highway seems to only go between Champaign, IL and Springfield, IL…  If this were not Illinois one might wonder how that happened, but as it IS Illinois one could make educated guesses I suppose J… 

Submitted my list and so the die is cast it seems...  Finally decided to fly:

Boba Krassis 2 (199)

Boba Fett — Firespray-class Patrol Craft	85
Lone Wolf	5
Jamming Beam	0
Maul	12
Proximity Mines	6
Stealth Device	6
Slave I	2
Ship Total: 116
Half Points: 58 Threshold: 5
Krassis Trelix — Firespray-class Patrol Craft	68
Snap Shot	8
Autoblasters	2
Qi’ra	2
Seismic Charges	3
Ship Total: 83
Half Points: 42 Threshold: 5

On reflection while I am NOT 100% sure I will face a Nantex, it is a concern...  And I think this list matches well there and against Swarms in general...  Aces will be a PITA, but Snap Shot should make a difference...  Will see I suppose

So, Firesprays it is for Springfield next week?

So, getting a very few games…  With the release of the Nantex I have to admit it pushed me to the edge where I do not believe that my Jedi list will do nearly so well at the Hyperspace event.  Boba Fett is a wrecking ball and surprisingly difficult to kill while he DOES a lot of damage…  Krassis is sneaky good.  The Snap Shot out both Arcs is huge.  I have run him with Qi’ra crew to lock onto a big obstacle and ignore it while moving and shooting.  Ideally it will be a big rock or Debris cloud to gain all of the advantages while shooting back at incoming enemy ships.  Snap fired 4-5 times actually doing a fair bit of damage for me and the Seismic Charges did a bit more and discouraged pursuit…  As a former “demo” guy I am quite familiar with that at least…  The Nantex or at least Sun is super scary for my Ace type list.  Yes, I can “just play better” and maybe avoid getting killed trivially by it, but enough people have figured out how to play against my Republic Ace list by now and Sun is just the final nail I think in that coffin.  At the end of the day, I have A-Wings (or an X-Wing if I use the 7B variant) and they will just die eventually.  Obi-Wan is incredibly difficult to block (or keep me from blocking) in his current configuration (CLT, Sense and R2-A6 to change the dial if needed)…  Fun, and probably on the broken good side.  But at the end of the day he is still just an A-Wing and even his Force and Luck will eventually run out. 

So, back to my Dual Firesprays it seems.  2 Ships and not a WHOLE lot of thought required as I am not really going to be trying to anticipate Arc Dodges or desperately trying to do so myself…  Big, heavy ships that I am going to be pointing at the enemy and running at them…  NOT a line up and Joust list, so I will be flanking, overrunning their positions and firing out the Rear Arc (and leaving a Bomb/Mine as a special gift on the way out).  Krassis getting the extra shots and having the Autoblaster to have the Ace killing threat if I can ignore their Evades is amusing and potentially something that can keep him alive in the end game. 
Borrowing the AB from a buddy here as I have no Resistance stuff for 2nd edition…  The down side of the new stuff only coming out in specific Ship packs for the moment is a thing…  Yes, the card packs that are coming “soon” will alleviate this in the longer run but of course this does nothing for the “right now”.  Overall I am still quite happy with 2nd edition…  The recent Tractor stuff is a fairly big negative, but nothing that is unbeatable.

Legion stuff coming along as well, I have a decent 500/800 point list set up I think for the next event locally…  500 point, and just straight kill units to score points…  Not a whole lot of strategy there and now that I actually have a basic understanding of the rules I suspect that I will do fairly well…  Things like knowing that Jedi like Luke can do the Evade action to allow the “Push” (Focus result in this game) to not only convert to a Dodge, but also cause an automatic wound to the shooting Unit…  Would have been brutal in my first Event as he did end up getting shot down eventually…  Had he the extra Dodges and ability to cause damage to the Attacking Unit?  Well, still PROBABLY would have died when he did, just would have taken a lot more of them with him…  And figuring out the ranking of the Dice colors (White -> Black -> Red) with the Red dice being SO much better than anything?  Well, the Heavy Weapon choices for my Gropos units has certainly changed from the Rotary Blaster to the Ion…  Honestly not even sure what the Ion effect does to Vehicles.  Just knowing that 2 Red 8 sided Dice are far better than 6 White 8 sided Dice :-) …

Job hunt continues, I am taking ITIL certification training to get that merit badge for my resume as well…  Unfortunately everything in Education seems to move at the speed of “Committee” and so it definitely takes a LOT longer than one might expect in the real world.  Even dug up my CS diploma and supporting documentation :-)  Amazing what you find from the ancient times.  I had honestly thought these things lost in the old house on Clark Street here or the other place I lived during that time frame…  But no, scanned in and now have the Transcripts ready should they become relevant for any of the positions I have or will apply for…  “Neat”, but as my old Platoon SGT would have said: “That and a couple of bucks will get you a cup of coffee”…  So, nothing really THAT important, I think my experience and track record is far more important, but I suppose having the piece of paper saying “I did things” is good as well…